New Zealand logs 1,653 new COVID-19 community cases, 12 more deaths

Wellington (New Zealand), September 8: New Zealand recorded 1,653 new community cases of COVID-19 and 12 more deaths from the pandemic, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
The country has seen the number of daily cases going down steadily from over 10,000 cases nationwide in early July.
With the fresh cases, New Zealand has reported 1,738,209 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,941 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, the ministry said.
Currently, 254 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals in the country, including seven in intensive care units or high dependency units, showed official data.
The country is currently under the orange settings of its COVID-19 Protection Framework.
Source: Xinhua